Arizona sunrise from the front porch.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Settling In
Casper is no longer an "only child"...we now have a resident humming bird that was quick to find the feeder Tom put up. He is spending a lot of time hanging out here and protecting his sweet find.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Out Wickenburg Way
Greetings from Beautiful Arizona! We will begin our blog and do our best to keep current with our travels and adventures while here.
We took a Nevada route south because of weather. Even at that, we had a blanket of snow on the ground all the way til about 50 miles north of Las Vegas.
Fortunately other than a few spots, the road was clear and dry. We are really glad we left Bend when we did - they have had snow and freezing fog since we left, and the forecast is for snow for the next week! Along the way, we made a pit stop for Casper, and Tom couldn't resist having his picture taken by this historic piece of Nevada architecture.....
We took a Nevada route south because of weather. Even at that, we had a blanket of snow on the ground all the way til about 50 miles north of Las Vegas.
Fortunately other than a few spots, the road was clear and dry. We are really glad we left Bend when we did - they have had snow and freezing fog since we left, and the forecast is for snow for the next week! Along the way, we made a pit stop for Casper, and Tom couldn't resist having his picture taken by this historic piece of Nevada architecture.....
Our trip took us over Boulder Dam. They are in the process of building a road that will bypass this heavily congested area. Here is a shot of the bridge that is under construction.
We arrived in Wickenburg, Arizona on Saturday morning, December 26. The house we rented for 3 months is located about 6 miles south of Wickenburg off Highway 60. (Last year, we were to the north of Wickenburg.) The front page news here is that it is rumored Tiger Woods may show up after the first of the year to spend some time at The Meadows to be treated for sex addiction! This area is well known among the rich and famous as an addiction treatment area including anorexia, drug and alcohol rehab. That's NOT why we are here! You will see from some of the following pictures why we are here.....
Some of the views around our spot...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
TOUCHDOWN
We made it home......11,454 miles after we left. What a trip.....more later, have to attend to things....
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Dancing with the Bears
Our side trip this time went beyond what we thought we would see.. We did see a nice grizz sow doing her version of fishing...I got a lot of it on film...The road going into Hyder and Stewart was above the 10 scale...of "ALL" the mountains we have seen, these were supreme...better than Glacier Park in Montana many times over...Dont know why we dont hear more about them...We have seen some actual darkness the last five nights, but last night it was dark "all" night,,,,I was scared...I think I saw the boogey man....We are now down in BC where its hot and will be rolling into Bend friday afternoon......More tidbits to follow...I am dog tired after getting no sleep cause of the boogey man...
South to Alaska
Our southern return route took us on the Cassiar Highway. There is a side road off the Highway that goes to Stewart B.C. and into Hyder, Alaska....the only town in southeastern Alaska that can be driven to. For those familiar with Alaska, it is on the other side of the mountain from Ketchikan. Some views along the amazing road.....
Being a cinnamon roll freak, I had to stop at a lodge advertising "world famous cinnamon rolls"...here is what is left after 3 meals....it weighed about 3 pounds....but probably added 6 to me!
Monday, August 17, 2009
More Tidbits
The people from the town on Inuvik say thier town is so far north they have to look south to see the northern lights.....I like that one.....We went through 3 time zones the last few days. Whitehorse Yukon is a great town, looks clean as a whistle, very livable...It has 34000 people in the area which is around 70% of all the people in the Yukon...Casper has been a great traveler...he has his spot on his dog bed right between us in the back seat..He can look out and see the road coming...you never know he is there..Good boy...June has been a great navigator. She has the milepost [ a big book with all the info and maps and storys etc...] It keeps us on the right road and is very interesting. [ask her about Tubbys]. The ipod has been a great item...As I said the music up here sucks, dont even know where they get it...Alaska is just like in the lower 48 but Canada ?????? wow....By the way when Alaskans talk about anyone living anywhere other than Alaska, its "the outside"
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Dempster or Die
What a great trip this was. Its a real do-it-yourself trip. Not much help along the way and be prepared for anything. The Dempster, [highways around these parts have names, in Alaska they all have numbers and names but no one knows the numbers like I84 or 26 or 97, they are the Parks, the Steese, the Richardson and on and on. Tomorrow we will be doing the Cassiar,] took 20 years to build and is 417 miles long, it has many surfaces, none pavement. Its unique in construction as it sits on top of a gravel berm to insulate the permafrost in the soil underneath. The thickness of the gravel pad ranges from 4 to 8 ft thick. Without the pad the road would sink into the ground. When it rains they say you should stop and wait for it to dry then continue on. Well in rained the 2nd day and it was slicker than a cats butt in a rainstorm. It was 4x4 for some time. We made it up in 2 days and back in a marathon 9 hrs. They say it should take 12-16 hrs one way.. It was raining on the way back, but when did mud and rain and dirt ever phase this boy. I would not do it that way again...One thing, home is calling. Anyway, its a wow trip..Around many corners and hill tops and view would show and take your breath away.. unlike anything we seen in Alaska or on the way up.. A real thrill was the Artic Circle, something I never thought I would see..[by the way, this trip was planned for 2 years, the main reason we got the truck and camper, not a trailer or motorhome, and it was the only way to fly] It was a feeling of accomplishment to be at the Artic Circle, especially with my lady, my wife the sweet woman June. After that we went into Northwest Territories which most of my life I have been intruiged with because of its being so remote, never thinking I would see it and there I was. Zounds......Its so sanitary, so pristine, its untouched, never seen anything like it. We saw herds of caribou crossing, didnt get good video of the big herds, but got some of a smaller herd... We crossed 2 rivers in ferryboats, one was the MacKenzie, which is one of the biggest rivers in North America. Its mostly natives and eskimos that live on the road. A few tourists we did see. We could travel a lot of miles before we saw any rig. The radio stations are very few and a lot were native with their tougne which we could not understand but thier music was way better than the Yukon or norther BC. There was a few places for gas at $1.35 a liter. I think it cost us over $400.00 in gas that trip. Worth every penny. Back to the road...toward the top the road was better, still muddy but solid and and slippery, but 6 miles before Inuvik, PAVEMENT....smooth but real rolly...Norwest Territories is mostly permafrost so it makes the roads real wavey..Then the town which is not that old. It started in the late 50's, has about 3400 pop., lots of natives and eskimos and many whites..The buildings are built on pilings so the permafrost wont melt. If a building is built on the ground it would melt the permafrost and start tilting and fall over and dissapear...I cant describe the feeling of being in the Artic that far north. Everything was different, the sky, the air, the trees, etc....I was going to get a large order of whale blubber to go and the local McDonalds but they ran out...By the way, the truck and camper was totaly coated with the worst damn mud I have ever seen...from bottom to the top of the camper....nothing showing but mud....We went to a station that had a power washer and it came right off otherwise we would not have been able to get into the camper with out being mudded out...it was ugly. We did the town, didnt take long, a few drunks on the street, and decent resturant, checked out the above ground heated sewer, the buildings were in colors of the rainbow and you could tell, built for snow and cold....They get 56 days on 24 hr daylight and 30 days without. It can get to 70 below or 89 above... Anyway had a nice afternoon and evening.. It was clear as a bell when we went to bed, when we got up it was cloudy and knew it would rain...So off we went to get half the way there, but then decided to make a run for it...Got up to 60 miles a hr a lot of the time, but also slow 4x4....BUT, the highlight of the day and what I have been want to see for years was seeing the grizzly bear in the wild...We saw 4... Altogether....what a thrill...I got lots of video of them. They started out as dots but they got larger...They must of had a dead caribou down and thats what they headed for and started lunching on....1 brown and 2 blondes and the last I never really got a good look at....We also saw a large fox,,,great shape, huge tail. Then we saw a wolverine.. Nobody see's those things...I really didnt know for sure till today when I looked them up on the internet and there it was and June verified it....We later got back to camp and washed the rig again as it was in the same dirty shape as in Inuvik, only this time washed the whole thing...Tomorrow we are headed down the Cassiar to Hyder Alaska to see if we can see some more grizzlies...Today we traveled through the Klondike, we didn't find any gold but we sure hit gold on the Dempster..........
The Dempster Highway
Friday, August 14, 2009
The End of the World
We have reached our goal at the end of the Dempster Hwy to Unuvik, Northwest Territories...A real many wow trip..We will be doing a post soon but wanted to let you know we did it..It was a feat,4x4 today...We are heading back tomorrow, stay tuned
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tok to Chicken to Yukon to Dawson
It was great to be on the road with no smoke...It had been really bad and I was glad I was in the Barr house in Fairbanks with a air purifier...When I walked in after 2 days in heavy dangerous for the health smoke, my lungs were killing me and my voice had changed...The whole area was burning all around Fairbanks...things are fair now with a bunch of rain...Tok to Chicken is a small road that turns to dirt...It happened to be caribou season and the hunters were out big time...lots of game going back...With no roads the camps are right on the side of the road..it looks like small citys..Lots of 4 wheelers. Chicken was a nice stop, I think we slept 12 hrs. Today we were on the "top of the world highway"...which is mostly gravel and dirt and follows the top of a ridge for 60+ miles to Yukon and Dawson. Going through customs out in the middle of tundra with nothing around is interesting and kinda cool.. We made it to the river, did a ferry across the Yukon and are now in Dawson..We did some eating, [very expensive town, so is all of Canada] and boardwalking and store shopping , watched a movie from the Northwest Territory people about driving the Dempster Hwy, which we are starting to do tomorrow. Look it up on your computer. All gravel, sometimes its not fun, sometimes dangerous, depends on the rain and snow and we have had rain so we will see. We have 2 spares and good tires.....We will be heading past the Artic Circle...This should be fun. Its one of the reasons we came north...
Dawson City Yukon Territory
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
PS On the Road
Its not from this trip that we are homesick, its that we have been home only about a month this year. I miss the lawn...and football season is getting close...
On The Road Again
We have just taken off from Fairbanks, or Bareflanks as June says. Its Tuesday the 11th...We are camped at the great town of Chicken Alaska....head for Dawson City, Yukon Territory....We are rather homesick, so who knows what we will do...
Monday, August 10, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Baby Barr,,,
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